A gang associate who killed a respected businessman with a single punch later told police his victim “looked like a good fella”.
Jay Bronson Aranui, 21, pleaded guilty today to the manslaughter of Andy Winitana, of Hastings, who has been described as a community-minded “colossus of a man”.
Winitana, 46, the managing director of two construction companies, was known in Hawke’s Bay for advocating for prisoners and providing them with jobs on release from jail.
Winitana crossed paths with Aranui, whom he did not know, in the hospitality area of West Quay, in the Napier port suburb of Ahuriri, in the early hours of February 1 this year.
Aranui had been denied entry to a waterfront bar and was hanging around the wharf area outside.
He had been aggressive towards the bouncers and was showing Mongrel Mob signs and mouthing gang slogans.
At 12.51am, he walked over to Winitana, who was sitting on a bollard waiting for an Uber.
They talked together for about three minutes and, according to CCTV footage, both appeared calm. At times, Winitana was laughing.
A friend of Winitana who was nearby throughout was not paying much attention to the conversation, but did not consider that they were talking aggressively.
Then Aranui punched his victim.
Aranui’s account of what happened was recorded in a police interview conducted on the following afternoon and detailed in the High Court at Napier today.
He told police he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time and in “happy-as mode”.
“It was just like, I was around so much people that wanted to fight, it was like I ended up just wanting to fight,” Aranui told the police.
He walked up to Winitana, who was wearing a light blue polo shirt, tan-coloured trousers and dress shoes.
Using a racist slur, he asked Winitana if his blue shirt meant he was associated with the Black Power gang, whose colour is blue.
Aranui said his victim was not aggressive and “looked like a good fella”.
“It was just once I said, ‘F*** you, I’ll just knock you out and smash you’,” Aranui told police.
“I didn’t really mean that. I didn’t really think I was gonna do that when I said that.”
Aranui said Winitana “got in my face” but added: “Well, I don’t f***ing blame him. I was f***ing talking s***”.
He claimed his victim then said, “Oh go on then, do it”, so he punched him.
The CCTV footage showed Aranui drew his right arm back and threw what appeared to be a full-force punch to Winitana’s face.
Winitana fell backwards without breaking his fall and the back of his head hit the tar seal.
A Crown summary of facts said Winitana was probably unconscious before he hit the ground.
He never regained consciousness and was taken to Hawke’s Bay Regional Hospital in Hastings by ambulance.
Brain scans revealed a catastrophic brain injury.
He was placed on life support but after further tests showed he was brain-dead it was turned off and Winitana died on February 3.
Winitana was the managing director of two companies, iScaffold Aotearoa and the construction firm Whakamana.
Hastings district councillor Henare O’Keefe previously told Hawke’s Bay Today he worked as a volunteer alongside Winitana, helping prisoners gain building qualifications at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison and in the post-Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up.
“[He was] one of our kaiwhakamana volunteers. Those are volunteers that can go into any prison to see anyone at any time, and Andy loved going in there, even though he was busy with his own business,” he said.
He recalled him helping one prisoner who was about to be released.
“Right there on the spot, Andy offered him a job,” O’Keefe said.
“I thought, ‘That doesn’t happen very often for complete strangers to come together like that’,” he said.
“He was a colossus of a man in many ways: physically, but kind and humble and caring.”
Aranui was remanded in custody to be sentenced in May.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.